NAPERVILLE, Ill. (Apr. 8, 2023) - Completing the series sweep of No. Augustana College, the North Central College baseball team used a 10-run fourth inning to cruise past the Vikings, 15-5 on Saturday afternoon at Zimmerman Stadium.

After two scoreless innings, Augustana pushed three runs across the board in the the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals went down in order in the bottom half of the inning.

After a three-up, three-down top of the fourth from Augustana, Justin Rios singled to center field. Jared Wojcik singled and Luke Lehnen drew a two-out walk to load the bases. Dave Fitzpatrick drove in two runs to put North Central on the board, 3-2. With two outs, Joe Hamilton reached first base on a dropped third strike as Lehnen scored on the error. John Michael Scumaci and Dom Listi each hit RBI singles before Justin Rios and Wojcik drew bases-loaded walks and forced Harrison Boushele out of the game. Cole Gregorio took advantage of another Vikings error as three more runs came around to score on the play to take a 10-3 lead.

Augustana scored two runs on two hits in the top half of the fifth inning. Jason Shanner worked out of a bases-loaded jam and kept the Vikings to just two runs. 

Hamilton walked to open the bottom half of the inning as Scumaci reached on an error to put the Cardinals in scoring position once again. Listi drove in Hamilton with a single to center field, giving North Central an 11-5 lead.

Back-to-back doubles from Wojcik and Gregorio pushed another run across for the Cardinals in the sixth. With Gregorio on third, Fitzpatrick hit a sacrifice fly to left field to put North Central up 13-5.

The Vikings went down quietly in the eighth before Gregorio singled to lead off the bottom half of the inning. Lehned doubled down the right field line and Fitzpatrick loaded the bases on a walk. Listi ended the game early with a two-run double to right center field as North Central secured a 15-5 win over Augustana.


Listi tallied three hits with four RBI and a run scored while Fitzpatrick drove in three runs on the day. Shanner earned the win with four innings pitched, two runs allowed, and a strikeout. 

The Cardinals continue CCIW play on Wednesday as they host North Park University. The first pitch is set for 3 p.m. inside Zimmerman Stadium.

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